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1070 points dondraper36 | 6 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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codingwagie ◴[] No.45069135[source]
I think this works in simple domains. After working in big tech for a while, I am still shocked by the required complexity. Even the simplest business problem may take a year to solve, and constantly break due to the astounding number of edge cases and scale.

Anyone proclaiming simplicity just hasnt worked at scale. Even rewrites that have a decade old code base to be inspired from, often fail due to the sheer amount of things to consider.

A classic, Chesterton's Fence:

"There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.”"

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MangoToupe ◴[] No.45069264[source]
This could also point to the solution of cutting down the complexity of "big tech". So much of that complexity isn't necessary because it solves problems, it just keeps people employed.
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mdaniel ◴[] No.45069428[source]
This is a horrifically cynical take and I wish it would stop. I doubt very seriously there is any meaningfully sized collection of engineers who introduce things "just to keep themselves employed," to say nothing of having to now advance that perspective into a full blown conspiracy because code review is also a thing

What is far more likely is the proverbial "JS framework problem:" gah, this technology that I read about (or encounter) is too complex, I just want 1/10th that I understand from casually reading about it, so we should replace it with this simple thing. Oh, right, plus this one other thing that solves a problem. Oh, plus this other thing that solves this other problem. Gah, this thing is too complex!

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1. elliotto ◴[] No.45069532[source]
I'd recommend reading bullshit jobs by David graeber. Most jobs in most organisations have an incentive structure for an individual to keep themselves employed rather than to actually solve problems.
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2. mdaniel ◴[] No.45070225[source]
I'm with you that the world in general is filled with bullshit jobs, but I do not subscribe to the perspective of wholesale bullshit jobs in the cited "big tech," since in general I do not think that jobs which have meaningful ways to measure them easily fall into bullshit. Maybe middle managers?
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3. ants_everywhere ◴[] No.45070329[source]
He's an anarchist so it's not a surprise that he's grinding out the same old tropes about organizations
4. elliotto ◴[] No.45070907[source]
Do you reckon the KPI's and performance indicators used in big tech count as meaningful ways to measure performance? Wouldn't someone implementing a complex resume-driven project score highly on these measurements, despite a simpler solution being correct? I am not sure that job-hopping every 18 months to maximise TC (ie optimise against your incentives) is a great way to learn about long-term design and organisational implications.

I'm not saying that these jobs are bullshit in the same way that a VP of box-ticking is, just that it's not a conspiracy that a cathedral based on 'design-doc culture' might produce incentives that result in people who focus on maximising their performance on these fiscally rewarding dot points, rather than actualising their innate belief in performant and maintainable systems.

I work at a start-up so if my code doesn't run we don't get paid. This motivates me to write it well.

5. rcxdude ◴[] No.45072787[source]
I think Graeber misses the mark quite substantially, in that I think to the extent that BS jobs exist, they are rarely perceived as such by the people who are doing them (in fact, the data suggests the opposite correlation: people doing important but 'shit' jobs are more likely to report that their work is bullshit than people doing work that Graeber would view as 'bullshit', like management consulting and marketing).
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6. elliotto ◴[] No.45073389[source]
Possibly, I mean in the book there's a hard number survey that says 37% of their sample described their job as not making a meaningful difference. It's a great book.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/capitalism-job-bullshit-dav...